"Onyx Investments has bought a 15 percent stake in Hapag-Lloyd," the official at Oman Investment Fund, who declined to be named and did not give a value for the deal, told Reuters.
German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, citing unnamed sources, reported on Monday that HNA — China's fourth-largest airline group — was also interested in buying a stake of up to 15 percent in the world's fifth-largest container shipping line.
London-listed travel company TUI Travel's parent company TUI AG, which owns almost half of Hapag-Lloyd, would not comment on the article and was available to comment on Onyx's share acquisition.
Reports have valued Hapag-Lloyd at 3.0-3.5 billion euros ($4.3-$5.0 billion).
A listing of Hapag-Lloyd had been on the cards for many months but the group's owners delayed a decision on whether the company should float last month, after the Japanese disaster and unrest in the Arab world rocked markets.
Klaus-Michael Kuehne, majority owner of logistics group Kuehne & Nagel — part of the Albert Ballin investor group which owns 50.2 percent of Hapag-Lloyd — was involved in the negotiations, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung said.
The owners of Hapag-Lloyd in December picked Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Greenhill to start preparations for a listing. TUI AG aims to sell about half its stake in Hapag-Lloyd.
Analysts expected the travel company to buy back the shares it does not own in TUI Travel with the proceeds.
